The Telefónica mWallet will offer a convenient and secure way of accessing a range of services from a stored value account through to payments and peer-to-peer transfers, says Sybase, and is designed to store prepaid, debit, credit and loyalty cards. It will be issued to subscribers in both Europe and Latin America, where the carrier operates the Movistar, O2 and Vivo networks. The first deployments will take place during the first half of 2012.

While the mWallet is capable of supporting NFC, the technology will not be included from the start in all markets. Telefónica is, however, already committed to launching NFC services in a number of European countries from this year. The carrier announced in December that it had chosen Giesecke & Devrient to provide it with the single Europe-wide trusted service management (TSM) platform that it will use for those roll outs.

“The mobile wallet lies at the heart of our financial services strategy and it is crucial that we deliver a strong, simple and secure user experience to our customers,” says Joaquín Mata, head of financial services at Telefónica Digital. “Sybase 365 is a leader in its field whose expertise will be a key element in helping us bring the best customer experience to market.

The Telefónica mWallet “will be the gateway for its customers to a wide range of mobile financial services,” says Sybase.

“With the ongoing convergence of technology and agreement amongst key players in the ecosystem, mobile commerce services are a fast developing global phenomenon,” explains Matthew Talbot, the supplier’s SVP of m-commerce. “We are very excited to be partnering with Telefónica to provide such a comprehensive mobile wallet offering. This is a great example of how mobile operators, financial institutions, enterprises and merchants collaborating with innovative technology built with the needs of the end customer in mind can extend mobile financial services to millions around the world.”